Petfinder Blog

As of Saturday morning, the International Fund for Animal Welfare had set up the Petfinder.com Foundation's emergency pet rescue van in lower Louisiana and was busily assisting the Louisiana State Animal Rescue Team with pet rescues in Louisiana.

As the central shelter for pet evacuees and pet rescues from Hurricane Ike, the Houston SPCA has a full-house today. They are housing about 300 dogs, 400 cats, 60 horses and 40 other farm animals. The SPCA also has taken in wildlife including pelicans, falcons, owls, ducks and (a) bear, which is part of an animal cruelty case. (At right, two kittens at the shelter.)

If you have lost or found an animal due to the storm, please use the SPCA's Lost and Found Pet Tool.

The SPCA's Animal Rescue Hotline number is 877-661-0161 or 713-861-0161

Read the SPCA's "Ike Updates."

Read FOX News.com's story about the busy Houston SPCA shelter, coping with Ike refugees."

As of 12:00 PM Central Time, September 12, the Houston SPCA had activated its Animal Response Hotline. Operators will be accepting lost and found reports, rescue reports, and offering other animal-related information. The Animal Response Disaster Hotline, pictured at right, will be staffed Friday from noon to 6 PM, and 10 AM to 6 PM on following days. Call notes are available so those who call in after hours may leave a message which will be returned first thing the next morning. The TOLL FREE NUMBER is 877-661-0161 or 713-861-0161.

(Read more about the Houston SPCA Animal Response Hotline and rescue efforts after the jump.)

After mandatory evacuation orders from the Governor of Texas, people and pets are fleeing Hurricane Ike. You can read a blog about the Houston SPCA's on-the-ground work, rescuing pets and providing shelter for evacuees' pets.

At left, above, workers at the Houston SPCA set up temporary homes for evacuated pets.

Thanks, Houston SPCA, for being there for pets!

Texas residents should call 2-1-1 for pet evacuation information:

"The 2-1-1 operators assist evacuees with other information, and operational animal shelters are another important piece of information the operators can provide evacuees," said Dr. Matt Cochran, emergency management veterinarian with the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC), the state's livestock and poultry health regulatory agency. The TAHC is one of more than 30 agencies on Texas' Emergency Management Council for the Governor's Division of Emergency Management."

Reminder: Evacuating pets must be in carriers.

Petfinder urges residents of the Gulf coast of Texas and Louisiana, from Port Mansfield, Texas to Cameron, Louisiana--and including the towns of Galveston and Houston, Texas to prepare themselves--and their pets--for disaster. Hurricane Ike promises to be a savage storm, likely a Category 3 or 4 hurricane with winds of up to 130 m.p.h. and a storm surge of 20 ft. that will flood not just low-lying areas, but possibly parts of Houston, as well.

Visit our Disaster Preparedness page, where you will find a Disaster Plan and a Disaster Plan Checklist and many other tips and tools to help ready your pets and your family for the storm. Here, again are some steps you can take today to ensure your pets' safety.

Quick Tips for Disaster Preparation

-- Prepare your disaster plan and review it with all your family members.

-- Take photos of your pet with your cell phone. If you and your pet become separated, the pictures will help rescue groups reunite you more easily.

-- Have a pet carrier ready for your pet in case of evacuation. You will need a carrier for safe transport in your car and for any public evacuation transportation. Also, emergency shelters will not take pets without carriers. Write the pet's name and your cell phone number on the top of the carrier, in permanent ink.

-- If you do have to evacuate, take your pet with you. We learned from Hurricane Katrina and Rita. Don't risk your pet's safety and life.

South Texas residents, beware! Here comes Hurricane Ike. Currently a Category 2 Hurricane, Ike is predicted to make landfall on the U.S. mainland on Saturday, September 13, possibly as a Category 3 hurricane.

Texas Gulf coast residents are already being warned to prepare for disaster and plans have been put in place for evacuations and emergency shelters.

The Environmental News Service reports:

Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs is making hurricane housing resources for communities available on the agency's website. The department will contact community action agencies in the projected path of the storm and advise them that they may be called upon to serve more people.

Texas Animal Health Commission is coordinating with its member agencies and encouraging residents to call 2-1-1 for the latest shelter information for pets and livestock.

The Emergency Management Council and State Operations Center are fully activated. The State Operations Center is closely monitoring Hurricane Ike, and holding twice daily conference calls with federal, state and local officials, private industry partners, volunteer organizations, and the National Weather Service.

Petfinder reminds residents in the storm's path of some of the important steps to take to prepare your pets for emergencies. Find disaster preparation tips after the jump.

September 3, 2008--The Weather Channel is reporting about the big difference for pets during Hurricane Gustav and Hurricane Katrina. With Gustav, pet evacuations were a top priority for 

September 2, 2008--Hurricane Katrina was a terrible disaster for pets in New Orleans. But not this time with Gustav. The Louisiana SPCA, Pasado's Safe Haven, IFAW, Best Friends Animal Society, the Humane Society of the US and many other animal rescue groups coordinated with seamless cooperation and were able to affect a real difference for pets. The groups transported pets from shelters in the path of the storm to safer locations, housed pets whose owners couldn't take the pets with them for whatever reason, picked up abandoned animals, coordinated lost and found efforts with pets and often didn't leave the areas until the last minute because they were taking care of pets.

Shelter Update from Magic Happens Rabbit Rescue:

From an LA shelter, thank you so much for the words of encouragement and offering of help. It means a lot to see everyone on their toes AHEAD of time offering help instead of waiting, both here locally and nationally.

We are in Baton Rouge and had very little damage during Katrina, even though there was flooding and wind damage all around us. We are staying to help others and evacuees staying with family here, as all the evacuation cities are south of us. We have most of our volunteers and even someformer adopters scheduled to come out on Sunday to clean all cages and carriers, label every carrier, cage, and rabbit (our rabbits are tattooed with "MHR" in the ear while under anesthesia for their spay or neuter), and write their names and our phone number in their ears with sharpies, just in case. We have all vet records printed and our few with health problems have backup meds stowed away, and thankfully our vet is close and is on call during all of this, and caring for quite a few evacuee pets at her facility. She has a generator and air condition in every room and has extended the invitation for us to board there if needed. Of course all of our gang will be kept inside for the storm, and the only damage we may see is trees/limbs falling on the roof. We have enough feed and hay to last 2 weeks, so we should be OK. Now the only question is, will our outdoor lean-to's and hutches survive?
Thanks again for letting shelters be aware of the assistance available AHEAD of time, so that it's not relying on word of mouth after the fact. As a rescuer and pet-slave, I greatly appreciate it.

Wendy
www.magichappensrescue.com
Magic Happens Rabbit Rescue